The Mysterious Zoid Eve
by BlkStrmSwrdr17
Summary: Takes place six months after Fiona's Ambition. Rudolf sends Van and Fiona a letter about an ancient zoidian temple and they go to investigate. The conclusion is now up! Please read/review. Without any reviews, there won't be an epilogue or a sequel
1. Rudolph's Letter

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Ch. 1: Rudolph's Letter  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Zoids anime, but I do own any original characters and/or original zoids in this story. Request in a review to use them, and then I will let you. This has been written for purely entertainment, as I'm not making a profit off this.  
  
Author's Note: Seeing as the last four episodes weren't shown, I'm doing my own thing on Zoid Eve. Anyway, this takes place six months after Fiona's Ambition. This will be much longer than Fiona's Ambition. At first, what's going on might be confusing, but it all ties together at the end of the chapter. I found this was the easiest way to write it. Also, Moonbay and Irvine have left again, doing whatever they did during those four years between CC/GF. Please read/review.  
  
Van fired yet another shot at Fiona. She simply flew out of the way with her Pteris. She returned fire, but Van put up his shield. Van jumped up and tried to ram the Pteris's chest, but Fiona flew up higher. Suddenly, Fiona got an idea. She dive-bombed at Van, and Van simply took out the Liger's blades to show that diving would lead to losing.  
  
"Van, I can't stop! I'm going too fast. Move out of the way!" Van ran out of her direction with his boosters. Fiona stopped just before hitting the ground, and then hopped out of her Pteris.  
  
"You are getting better. Fiona. You really had me worried there." Van stated as he hopped out of the Blade Liger and hugged Fiona and she hugged him back. Zeke also roared something.  
  
Everyday, for the past six months, Van had been training Fiona. She was getting quite good as the last few matches were more of fighting than training. At first, she used Zeke, but now he would be an unfair advantage, so, Zeke watched them train. During the battle with the Death Stinger, Fiona's Helcat was completely destroyed so Van "borrowed," as he put it, a red Pteris with a Bomber unit from the base, since that was the zoid that she was best with. It wasn't like Colonel Krugar would demote Van or anything like that if he found out. When Fiona asked about choosing a red Pteris, Van said it reminded him of her eyes. Of course, Fiona put in extra features like the powerful yellow shield and the speed boosters.  
  
Other than training, Van spent time with Fiona, lifted weights, and received occasional assignments from the GF. Since Hiltz wasn't around, there wasn't much trouble anymore. It wasn't even known if Reese and Raven had survived or not.  
  
"Hey Fiona, I'm hungry. How does lunch sound?" "Good Van" Fiona replied as they walked in Van's house.  
  
Maria wasn't around, so Van and Fiona had to cook for themselves. They decided spaghetti would be good. Later Van decided to see if it tasted good, and took a spoonful out, but forgot to dump the water out. The pasta was good, but Van burnt his mouth on the boiling water.  
  
"Ow! Damn it burns!" "Van you should've let the water out." Fiona said while laughing. Zeke also was laughing his ass off. "Shut up! That really hurt!" Van screamed.  
  
After that, lunch was pretty good and uninterrupted until there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it, Fiona." "Please sign here, Mr. Flyheight." The delivery guy instructed as he handed Van a package. "What is it?" "A letter from Emperor Rudolph, sir. No one knows what it's about." "Thank You." Van signed, and the delivery guy left. He opened the letter and walked near Fiona so they could both read it. It read:  
  
Dear Van and Fiona, I have important news. I'm writing to you with a letter because I fear that through any other way I communicate, it may be intercepted. It seems that in the northernmost town of the Empire, the Snow Colony, an Ancient Zoidian temple was discovered by a group of miners that have been sworn to secrecy. They, you, Dr. D, Colonel Krugar, and myself are the only ones who know about it. I've already made sure that it is okay if you go by Colonel Krugar. So, please meet at my palace and I will give you further details. Your friend, Rudolph  
  
"So, Van, when are we leaving?" "Well first Fiona, let's finish our lunch, then we'll get ready to go." After that, the rest of the meal was silent.  
  
Fiona and Van then got ready to go. They packed extra clothes, food, water, sleeping bags, a burner, a cooking pot, and several miscellanies. They did one last inventory check, and Zeke was about to go open the door when Maria came in. She scared the hell out of Zeke.  
  
"Hi Maria," Fiona greeted. "Hello, Fiona. Van, where do you think you're going?" "Uhh. you see, we've got to see Rudolph at his palace and." "Emperor Rudolph?" "Yes." "Don't keep him waiting. Now go and come back soon. Goodbye Van, Zeke, and Fiona." "Bye then." "See you later," Fiona replied. Zeke roared a bye also. Van and Fiona hopped in their zoids with Zeke running behind.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	2. The Journey to Guygalos

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter 2: The Journey to Guygalos  
  
Van and Fiona had been traveling through the desert for about 2.5 hours. Fiona was flying at around 150 feet high while Van was running in the Blade Liger with Zeke running along.  
  
"Fiona and Zeke look, it's the ruins I found you two in." "Rooaaarrrr." "Yeah, it is. Van, could we stop there for a little, I'd like to see something." "Okay, I guess it won't hurt."  
  
They parked their zoids in front of the ruins, and Fiona ran inside. Van and Zeke walked. However, they quickly lost sight of Fiona. Fiona ran to the room where Van found her and picked up a broken piece of her pod's green glass from the ground. She stared at her reflection and thought. A flood of memories came back to her.  
  
"I've changed a lot in these past four years. But, I still haven't learned much about my past. Will I learn more at this ancient zoidian temple? We've learned a little from each ruins, but not much. What about Zoid Eve? Are Reese and Raven even alive, and if so, are they searching for it too?"  
  
Fiona's thoughts were interrupted as Van's huge arms wrapped around her. She got so startled she grasped the glass shard and cut the palm of her hand. Fiona silently swore to herself for being so careless.  
  
"Fiona you're hurt. What happened?" Van inquired as he looked at her hand. "When you came in, you startled me. Anyway, I was just thinking about my past. Do you think we'll learn more about it, or find Zoid Eve at this temple?" "I'm sure it'll be worthwhile." Van replied as he held the embrace and kissed her.  
  
It was now Zeke decided to ruin the moment as he walked in and rested his entire tail on Van's foot. Fiona laughed, while Van swore. "Damn, Zeke do you know how much you weigh?!" "Garoar?" "Lemme put it this way, you're pure metal and you decide to sit on me!" "C'mon Van let's leave." Fiona said as she pocketed the glass shard.  
  
They got a couple hours of traveling, but nightfall was approaching. "Fiona, what do you say we get camp set up before it gets dark? Then we'll cook dinner." "Alright." "Van, you set up the tent. I'll cook and Zeke can help. Does that sound good?" "Sure."  
  
Fiona had sent Zeke to get wood to light the fire while she prepared the food for the soup. However, she somehow had managed to reopen her cut and resisted the urge to shout. "Grr. Garoar?" Zeke had seen her cut while he handed Fiona the wood with his scrawny arms and pointed. "Oh. The red stuff, Zeke? It's called blood. It's comes from our heart. I could best explain it that our heart is like our zoid core and the red stuff is like the fluids in a zoid to help it run. "Roagrr."  
  
Fiona and Zeke then lit the fire and started to make the soup.  
  
Van had been struggling horribly with the tent. He was having a hard time holding it up straight and putting it up by himself. He had been building it for around an hour. "Why can't this damned thing stay up? Fiona will be done any second," he thought.  
  
Around twenty-five minutes later, "Van, dinner!" "Coming Fiona, I'm just gonna finish building the tent." "Just don't take too long." Around five minutes later, Van was done. Apparently after the part he was stuck on, it was much simpler. Fiona and Zeke had already started eating. "And here's some for you Van." "Thanks Fiona, this is really good soup! Much better than Moonbay's, lemme tell you. And hers wasn't that bad either." "You're just saying that because you haven't eaten in like six hours." "Don't be modest." "Here Van, you want some more?" As usual, Fiona had only one serving being a light eater. "Thanks!" "Fiona, your cut!" When Fiona gave him some more, Van obviously had noticed that her cut reopened. "It's alright." "You should really let me bandage it" "Okay." Fiona gave up with a sigh as Van bandaged her hand. Otherwise, she knew Van wouldn't stop nagging. "Fiona I only do it cuz I care and I don't want you to get hurt more that's all. "I know."  
  
After that, couple was starting to get tired. "Zeke, Van and I are tired. We're going to sleep now, okay?" "Grr..." "Thanks buddy and please watch over the zoids for us. Oh and have the rest of the soup if you want it. If anything happens, wake us up." Van instructed as he followed Fiona into the tent.  
  
Fiona couldn't get to sleep, even though she was tired. There was just too much on her mind. "Van's asleep." Fiona confirmed as she saw him in his sleeping bag. Around two hours forty-five minutes later, Van woke up. He could never sleep the whole night through. He noticed Fiona just staring at the ceiling of the tent. "Fiona have you gotten any sleep yet?" Fiona took her eyes off the ceiling to respond. "No, I just can't. I'm just worried about what Rudolf said about that ancient zoidian temple." "Well just try to, you'll need it. As for the temple, try not to worry about it." Van advised as he ran his hand through her long, golden hair to comfort her. "Oh God, I love it when he does that," Fiona thought, then replied, "I'll try to sleep." Van didn't allow himself to fall asleep again until Fiona did, and when she did, he too went asleep.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	3. Meeting at Rudolf’s Palace

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter 3: Meeting at Rudolf's Palace  
  
It was driving Fiona mad. They'd been traveling non-stop for a week. They had only stopped at hotels at the towns directly on the route to Guygalos, and as a result, they'd slept outside, and hadn't taken a shower in like 2.5 days. She had sand all in her golden hair and in her cut that was pissing her off. She was also really hungry right about now.  
  
"Van, can we please stop here? I'm really getting hungry and I'm wiped. I don't mean to complain, but the last thing we ate was at lunch and that was like six hours ago." "Fiona, we're only like 25 miles from Rudolf's palace. There we'll have a nice, hot dinner and a nice room. If we hurry, and push the zoids a little harder, we can get there before it gets to dark to see. To be honest, I'm hungry too. If you really want to, we can stop and set up camp." "No, it's okay, I guess." "Alright, then. Full speed ahead to Rudolf's!" "Garooaarr!"  
  
A little later, they were right next to Rudolf's palace. "State your name and purpose here," One of the guards instructed. Opening the cockpit, Van replied, " I'm Van Flyheight. Emperor Rudolf has called us here." "And I'm Fiona Alisi Lanette of the Guardian Force. I'm with Van." "I'm sorry Miss Lanette and Captain Flyheight. It's just we can never be too careful." The guard apologized with a softer tone. "It's alright," Van answered. "Anyway, if you park your zoids here, I'll lead you to the courtyard where the emperor will meet you shortly. "Sounds good to us," Fiona replied. "It isn't like anyone would steal our zoids. The Blade Liger is one of a kind type of zoid and is recognizable anywhere, and there aren't many red Pterisis around." Van thought as Zeke defused with the Liger.  
  
A/N: I think Van deserved the promotion after his bout with the Death Stinger. Don't you think so, too?  
  
They then followed the guard into the courtyard. He then left. There were all kinds of trees and different exotic plants growing. "Isn't this place beautiful Van?" Fiona asked while picking a black rose. "Yeah, it's real nice." Van responded while watching Zeke chase a butterfly. Fiona then sat on the edge of a fountain and put the rose in her hair. "How do I look, Van?" "Stunningly beautiful." Van then sat down next to her and put his arm around her. However, it was now that the butterfly had flown right over the fountain. So Zeke jumped in after it and got Van all wet and somehow missed Fiona. "Zeke!" "Every time I get close to Fiona, he always interrupts," Van shouted, thought, then tried to splash him, but he was long gone by then. Fiona was laughing, so Van decided to splash her. "You think it's so funny. Now look at you!" Van laughed. "Van!" Fiona splashed him again, but he didn't splash back as he saw Rudolf enter the courtyard. Fiona then looked, and saw him too. "Hi Rudolf!" The couple greeted simultaneously. "Ggrrr!" "Hello, Zeke, Van, and Fiona. Don't mind my asking, Van and Fiona, but why are you two all wet?" "Uhh. You see. We were umm. You tell him Fiona." She didn't say a word. "Rudolf, I see you got dressed up real nicely for an emperor." Van sarcastically remarked, changing the subject." "Van, you know I consider you all my personal friends, so I decided to dress casually. Anyway, down to business about this newly found temple. It happened a day before I sent you that letter. In the mountain, there is an abundance of zoid magnetite, seeing as it is a former volcano. The miners there had blasted away part of the mountain in hopes of expanding the magnetite mine. However, in doing so, they blew out where the temple was behind. One of the miners had walked up to the temple, and taken a tablet piece on the ground back as proof and they went back to the Snow Colony. He then contacted me, and I flew over in the Storm Sworder with Rosso. The miner told me what had happened, and gave me the tablet. "Can I see it?" "Of course Fiona. It's in ancient zoidian." Rudolf answered while taking it out of his pocket. "Here within lies zoid Eve."  
  
Fiona suddenly felt light-headed, and fell on the ground and fainted. Van quickly picked her up and cradled her in his arms and waited for her to reawaken. "Is she going to be alright, Van?" "Yes, Rudolf. Every time this happens, she gets part of her memory back. All we can do is wait for her to wake up."  
  
Fiona was in the middle of the snow, in nowhere. Van, Zeke, and their zoids were nowhere in site. So, she just walked. It was freezing. Their trip to New Helic in that snowstorm seemed like a heat wave. Yet, in a way, it was beautiful out. The sun reflected off the snow and there was an aurora in the sky. After walking for a while, the temple came into view. It appeared to be made of pure, clear ice itself. As she walked closer, she noticed Raven and Reese at the entrance looking out into the landscape searching for something. She quickly hid behind a giant snow pile.  
  
"Van, are you sure she'll wake up, it's been around 15 minutes?" "She's never been out this long. I don't know what to do, Rudolf." Van didn't want to hit her or anything to wake her up. They'd tried yelling at her to wake up, but that didn't work either. "Rudolf, I've got an idea. Hold on." Van remembered a long while ago, Fiona had used telepathy to communicate with him. He didn't understand it then, but now he did. He didn't even think he had these abilities. But, still it made sense to him that since Fiona used telepathy with him, and they loved each other, they might have a link or something. Van concentrated really hard, and tried it. "Fiona you've got to come back." "Van? Where are you?" "I'm at the palace holding you. I tried to do telepathy like you did to me." "That would make sense, I guess we might have a link or bond. I'm going to come back now."  
  
Fiona imagined herself back at the palace in Van's arms. She closed her eyes, and when she reopened her eyes, she was staring right at Van's. She had forgotten that Rudolf and Zeke were there, and had embraced and kissed Van. Van couldn't resist and returned her hug + kiss. Rudolf's eyes were wide as saucers, and Zeke simply acted as if it was normal. "You see. Rudolf. uhh. yeah," Van never could talk about his relationship with Fiona other than to Zeke, and as for the situation with Thomas, that required immediate attention and he also had to tell Moonbay what was going on. And Irvine just decided to watch them that time. Other than those times, and now, no one else ever caught them together. "I'm sure you can see what's going on here, Rudolf," Fiona interrupted. She was more open than Van was. But still it wasn't like she screamed it out to everyone, either. "I always suspected Fiona had a thing for Van. She left hints sometimes. But Van kept his feelings to himself. Even though, I would've never suspected this." Rudolf thought. "How does dinner sound Fiona, Van, and Zeke?" "Great, Rudolf I'm famished!" Van exclaimed. Since they'd gotten there in the courtyard, Van was hungry, but it was gnawing at the back of his mind, but now he was ready to die at the mentioning of food. "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry myself." "GGGRRR!" Fiona and Zeke felt the same way too. "Great, let's go to the dining room now. Dinner can be ready in like ten minutes."  
  
They were seated at a nice, big, and glass table. Dinner had just arrived. Van and Zeke had ordered two large steaks each, while Fiona had lobster's claws. Rudolf had gotten some caviar. Zeke ate like a monster and tried to swallow the two steaks at once without even cutting them. He choked pretty badly, and Van laughed his ass off. After that, Fiona and Van told Rudolf about the journey there while inhaling their food, but not as fast as Zeke did. Rudolf ate slow and neatly like royalty should. "Okay guys, now that we're done, I'm guessing you're tired, and I know I am, so I'll show you to your room." Rudolf announced as he got up.  
  
5 minutes later "Here you are. Good night. I'll see you all at breakfast." "Good night." Fiona replied. "See you in the morning." Van followed. "Grr..." "Room" was an understatement. "Grand hotel suite" seemed more suitable. There was a big four-poster bed, a fireplace, a weight set, a couch, a tv, a little coffee table, and a bathroom. "Somehow knows how to treat his guests, right Fiona." "I know, Van it's so big here. Anyway, now I'm going to take a shower, okay?" "Sure." Zeke had already spread himself all over the couch, and was in a deep sleep. He looked like he was dead. Van ha nothing else to do, so he put on a tank-top and lifted the weights. By the time he was done, Fiona was sitting at the table watching him. "God, Van, you're so strong and muscular." Fiona told him as she looked in awe at how many pounds he was benching. "And you're so beautiful Fiona. But I don't smell too good. I'm going to take a shower now." Fiona still sat at the table and decided how to solve the problem of there being only one bed. And by the time Van got out, she still hadn't reached a solution. Van had startled her by coming out. "You know Fiona, there's only one bed and Zeke got the couch. You know as well as I do, it's not fun waking him up. I'll sleep on the floor if you want. Or we could share it and not do anything. If you really want to we can." Van stated while his face turned pink. "I know what you're saying Van, I want to do that too. But, not here, not now. We need the rest. After all this is settled, then we'll do that." Fiona interrupted as she climbed in the bed. She was glad Van didn't pressure her. He wouldn't do something like that, but still. She knew her face had to have been just as pink as Van's now. "Okay." Van climbed in after her. They would need the rest. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	4. The Departure from the Palace

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter 4: The Departure from the Palace  
  
Van groggily opened his eyes, saw something that made them widen, and slammed them shut again as dirty thoughts ran through his mind. "There's no way this can be real," he thought, then opened his eyes again slowly. He wasn't dreaming. Fiona was right on top of him. "Oh shit! We agreed not to do anything!" However after mentally running through what went on last night he couldn't remember anything of the sort. Van saw Zeke sitting on the couch with the TV on.  
  
"Hey buddy, can you tilt that, so I can see?"  
  
"Gurrr. Grrr. Garoar!" Zeke responded, then obliged.  
  
"No we didn't do that."  
  
"Gr."  
  
"Shut up!" Van threw a pillow, shouted, and then covered his mouth. He'd forgotten that Fiona was asleep. He was happy in that he didn't wake her up. Van tried to watch TV without shifting around too much, having Fiona on top of him. It was some stupid cartoon in that people were firing energy blasts at a fat, childish pink guy.  
  
"Zeke, what the hell's this?"  
  
"Rooaarr!"  
  
"Whatever just keep it down alright."  
  
For some reason Van didn't like the stupid show, and closed his eyes. He focused on the challenges ahead. He wondered if they were fated to find Zoid Eve, or if it just was pure chance this all fell into place and everything happened the way it did. "Van, we were fated to be together." Fiona told him in his head. Somehow, Van didn't feel surprised Fiona could read thoughts knowing she could teleport and communicate with telepathy. Fiona then opened her eyes, surprised and kissed Van on the lips, and Van returned it. Luckily, Zeke wasn't watching, or he would've cracked on Van. They all understood they were only joking about it, but it got a bit annoying to Van, and even to Fiona who didn't say anything.  
  
"Fiona, I like this position and all, but I'm going to watch more of those crappy cartoons with Zeke, so can you get off me?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
Fiona got up, and Van sat on the couch. Fiona, while walking around noticed a letter under the door. She got it, and read it. It said:  
  
Dear Van and Fiona, I wrote this because I didn't want to disturb you. Breakfast will be served at 9:45. Please meet me in the dining room. Your pal, Rudolf. "Van breakfast is at 9:45 in the dining room!"  
  
"Really? It's like 9:35 now. Come on Zeke, let's get ready!"  
  
The trio had arrived just in time. The table was already filled with food. Van and Zeke took a stack of pancakes, while Fiona grabbed some eggs. Rudolf, on the other hand, got bacon. Zeke ate the way he always did; however, he didn't choke on his pancakes.  
  
"Whoa! Must be syrup," Van thought.  
  
"So, Van when're you all leaving?" Rudolf inquired.  
  
"Right after breakfast. First we'll restock on supplies, and then we'll be on our way to the Snow Colony. Does that sound like a plan, Zeke and Fiona?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Grrnn"  
  
The meal was pretty silent after that, until:  
  
"Rudolf! Why aren't you wearing your crown? You're lucky you've got someone like myself to keep you in shape!"  
  
"Well Marianne, I'm with my friends, Van, Fiona, and Zeke. I'm sure you remember them. They're going on a journey."  
  
"Hello everyone." "Hey Maryanne" Van greeted. "Grrr." "Hello!" Fiona responded. "Fiona, where's Thomas? I worked so hard to get you two together." Maryanne questioned.  
  
"He's at some base. He wasn't right for me. I'm with Van now. Right, Van?" Fiona responded while her cheeks turned pink. "She can be so blunt," Fiona thought.  
  
"What? Yeah." Van had already finished his meal, and wasn't paying any attention. "Oh. Speaking of love, Rudolf when're you going to marry me? You've got to be physically ready by now!"  
  
Choking on his bacon with a cherry-red face, "You see. I'm not mentally ready for that type of commitment yet. Maybe in a couple more years."  
  
"But Van and Fiona were our age when they went adventuring together, right?"  
  
"But the first time I saw them together was yesterday. They aren't married and they're eighteen! I'm sorry for bringing you two in this."  
  
"It's alright. Just don't tell too many people, okay?" Fiona instructed.  
  
"I won't tell anyone else, and neither will Maryanne.  
  
"I don't even like her in that way. What did my grandpa see in her when he arranged this marriage? Although, she can be cute sometimes." Rudolf then shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. This was about his friends now, not Maryanne.  
  
"Fiona, are you ready to go? Zeke and I are already done." Van asked.  
  
"In a minute, Van."  
  
"Van I want you to take this. It should be enough to pay for your supplies." Rudolf then offered Van a little bag. Van opened the little bag, and his eyes widened. Inside was pure gold!  
  
"Are you sure? We've got our own money."  
  
"Just take it. Whatever you don't use, just keep for yourselves."  
  
Fiona, Zeke, and Van then got their stuff from the room, and left. Rudolf and Maryanne walked with them all the way to the zoids.  
  
"Goodbye, my friends! I hope you find what you're looking for. You can come back after you're done."  
  
"Goodbye Rudolf and Maryanne." Fiona replied.  
  
"See you later!" Van also replied.  
  
"GRR!"  
  
"Bye, Van and Fiona. I wish you the best of luck!" Maryanne gave her regards.  
  
They went to a shop at Guygalos that sold everything and anything. They bought more food, water, and heavy clothing for when they reached the temple, and a hot burner for cooking in the snow. It was a good thing that Van took Rudolf's gold; otherwise he wouldn't have had enough. But he reminded himself to give Rudolf back the extra when they returned. They then packed the equipment in their zoids headed to the extreme north for the Snow Colony.  
  
"Are you ready Van?" Fiona asked as she flew up in her Pteris.  
  
"As ready as I'll ever be." Van replied as he accelerated. Zeke ran quicker to keep up with them.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	5. Confrontation enroute to the Snow Colony

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter 5: Confrontation en-route to the Snow Colony  
  
Fiona, Van, and Zeke had been journeying to the Snow Colony for the past week and a half. They were about halfway between Guygalos and their destination. Dawn was just a few minutes away, as Fiona was now waiting for it. After that, she was going to prepare breakfast for the sleeping Van and Zeke. She saw two fast approaching blurs in the sky, and when she focused her eyes more, she saw two black stealth Storm Sworders as they slowed down and approached the campsite.  
  
"Van, get up!"  
  
"What happened, Fiona?"  
  
"There're two fast approaching Storm Sworders. I think they might attack us."  
  
"In that case, let's get to the zoids now!" Van exclaimed, than ran to the Liger, and Fiona to her Pteris.  
  
"C'mon Zeke wake up! We've got to get to mobilize!" Fiona shouted as she got into her Pteris.  
  
"Grrr..."  
  
"Here's the plan: Zeke, you help Fiona in the air while I'll shoot at them if they attack us." Van instructed as he hopped in the Liger's cockpit.  
  
"But Van are you sure that."  
  
"Just trust me Fiona. You'll need Zeke more than I will. All I can do from the ground is fire at them anyway." Van interrupted.  
  
"Okay then."  
  
Zeke fused with Fiona's Pteris, and Van opened a com link with the two Storm Sworders.  
  
"Who are you and what do you two want?"  
  
The pilot responded, "I'm Luke, and my partner here is Mark. I'm here to kill you, Alisi Lynette, and if you get in the way Van Flyheight, you'll die as well." He was about six feet tall, had green hair, was thin, and a little older than Van. Mark however, said nothing.  
  
"You guys will have to kill me first!" Van screamed.  
  
"That can be arranged." Luke responded with an evil smile.  
  
Luke charged after Fiona while Mark went for Van. Mark shot a missile at Van, who simply put up his shield. The missile exploded harmlessly. Then, Van shot at Mark's zoid and inflicted some minor damage. Luke took out his blades, and charged at Fiona. She had cast her shield just in time, and Luke's blades didn't cut through. He still tried to shatter the shield by applying pressure to the shield with the blades. Luke didn't count on the shield being so powerful, and his blades eventually snapped.  
  
"Damn this useless zoid!" Luke screamed.  
  
Meanwhile, things weren't going so great for Van. He was having trouble fighting on the ground against a Storm Sworder with such high agility. Mark flew over the Liger, and knocked it back with a sonic-boom. Once Van recovered, he jumped right on top of his low-flying opponent, and ripped out vital circuitry with his claws. Mark eventually shook Van off, but his attack had taken its toll: Mark was grounded and unable to fly.  
  
Fiona fired a missile at Luke. It exploded, giving some damage, and created a smokescreen. She flew right behind Luke and shot him at point- blank range. This enraged Luke quite a bit.  
  
"This ends now!"  
  
Luke opened the Storm Sworder's mouth revealing a particle cannon, and he started to charge it. After that, he fired every missile he had at Fiona. She put up her shield, but it had lost around half its power when Luke used his blades on her. The shield shattered, and the missiles knocked Fiona into the cockpit and unconscious with their impact. The particle cannon had finished charging, and Luke was aiming it at the Pteris's zoid core. Zeke was doing the smart thing, as he fused with the unconscious Fiona, and bailed the hell out. The destroyed red Pteris fell right down to the ground.  
  
"Fiona! Zeke! You're going down to hell for that, Luke!" Van hollered as he fired every bullet he had at Luke's Storm Sworder, which was speeding out of sight. Van jumped out of his Liger, and punched a nearby rock as hard as he could. His knuckles hurt, but he didn't care. They didn't hurt as much as his heart. He wouldn't even care right now if Mark shot at him and killed him.  
  
"It's all my fault. If only I concentrated more on fighting Luke than Mark, Fiona and Zeke would still be here. Fiona and I were just starting to get close. My girlfriend and best friend gone." Van thought as he wiped a tear from his eye.  
  
Suddenly, Van heard something loud crash into the ground. He ran a couple hundred feet in front of him around where Fiona's Pteris was, and saw it was Zeke!  
  
"Zeke! You're alright! Where's Fiona? Did she make it too?"  
  
"Gaoorr!"  
  
Zeke opened his chest, untied the wires off Fiona, and she fell softly onto the ground. Van put his hand over her chest and felt a heartbeat. She was alive, but unconscious. Van immediately hugged her.  
  
"Zeke, I'm going to get our supplies from the campsite, pack them in the Liger, come back here, and cook breakfast. Can you watch Fiona until I get back?"  
  
"Gaarrr."  
  
Van ran as fast as he could to the Liger and then went back to the campsite. He squeezed all of their stuff into the liger's back seat and headed back to Zeke and Fiona. He arrived around forty-five minutes later, reassembled the camp, and started to make eggs for Fiona, Zeke, and himself. By the time Van was done, Fiona still hadn't woken up, so they started to eat. The meal was pretty silent. That ended when Van spotted a damaged Storm Sworder flying pretty close to the ground.  
  
"Oh great! I should've taken care of him before." Van thought sarcastically.  
  
However, what Mark did surprised Van. He got out of his Storm Sworder, and walked up to Van.  
  
"What do you want? I can't believe you've got the audacity to come here after what you did." Van inquired as he looked at Mark. He was around sixteen, had purplish-black hair, and was thin like his brother. Somehow, Mark reminded himself of Van at fourteen. Maybe it was because Mark seemed adventurous?  
  
"Look, I came to say I was sorry. My brother made me fight you. He said if I didn't he would just leave me stranded. You see, we're both orphans. Anyway, Mark wasn't always like this. One day about a year back, he went to explore some ancient ruins. After that, he was obsessed with finding zoid eve. He somehow knew that girl you were fighting with was an ancient zoidian. He hates them for some reason too. That brought us to why we attacked you. I didn't want to fight you, so I held back and didn't use the particle cannon. Now, he left me to die. I don't know what to do."  
  
"You can come with us. I can tell you're not lying. Otherwise, you'll have nowhere else to go. We're looking for zoid eve too. According to my friend, it's up north."  
  
"Thank you so much. You're a kind person, Van. That's your name, right?"  
  
"Yes, it is. Does breakfast sound good?"  
  
"That'd be great!"  
  
Zeke had finished eating now, and thought of an idea.  
  
"Grr. Garoar?"  
  
"That'd be a good idea."  
  
Zeke fused with Fiona's Pteris, and started to attempt to resurrect it.  
  
"Is that an organoid?"  
  
"Yes, his name's Zeke. That's how Fiona bailed out of her Pteris."  
  
"Fiona?"  
  
"You know her by her ancient zoidian name, Alisi Lynette. I found her in a pod. That's another story all together.  
  
As if on cue, Fiona woke up. "Hi Van, where's Zeke?"  
  
"Fiona! He's trying to resurrect your Pteris. Do you want some food?" Van explained as he hugged her. He would've kissed her, but Mark was around.  
  
"Who's our guest, Van?"  
  
"Oh, that's Mark." Van answered as he started to tell her what happened while she was out.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	6. Pterosaur's Debut

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter 6: Pterosaur's Debut  
  
Fiona sat down on a rock and sighed. It had been about two hours before when they had lunch, and that was five hours after breakfast. Zeke still hadn't revived the Pteris.  
  
"What's taking Zeke so long? It didn't take him this long to revive the Liger during our encounter with Stinger. Then again, there was a lot going on at that time, and maybe Zeke forced himself to repair the Liger more quickly. I was also there too. That sure was an odd experience, being inside a zoid core. But, that doesn't matter, if I was a better pilot and stronger, this wouldn't have happened, and Luke wouldn't have gotten away. Now, he probably has a good start on finding Zoid Eve. I'm most likely burdening Van as being a zoid pilot. I probably shouldn't have even piloted a zoid." Fiona depressingly thought.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted as Van sat down next to her. Mark and Van had already made repairs to the Blade Liger a while ago, and they had been fixing Mark's Storm Sworder, which had suffered heavy damage from their battle. Right now, Van was taking a break. Fiona didn't help, thinking she'd get in their way and be useless.  
  
"Fiona, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing Van." Fiona responded.  
  
"Don't lie, I don't have to read thoughts to know when there's something bothering you."  
  
"Alright, I'll tell you what's bothering me: Van, am I burdening you piloting my Pteris?"  
  
"Of course not! You saved my life in the battle with Hiltz, and I taught you all I know when we trained together."  
  
"Yeah, but today when I lost. My Pteris was destroyed, and Luke got away and is probably searching for Zoid Eve himself. We're also set at least a day behind since my zoid is being revived by Zeke right now."  
  
"Don't worry about it. It isn't your fault you were knocked out when you slammed into the cockpit. I doubt Luke can read ancient zoidian, so how's he going to find where to look? And on the bright side, we made a new friend today: Mark. Fiona, you aren't burdening me by being a pilot. It's even better that you are so that you can fight alongside me. If you were a burden to me, why would you be my girlfriend?"  
  
The next thing Van did took Fiona completely off guard. He wrapped his left arm around her, ran his right arm through her gold hair, tiled his head, and kissed her full on the lips, which Fiona fully accepted and returned it.  
  
"I'm going to have a drink of water. Fiona could you help Mark with his Storm Sworder?"  
  
"Okay! I thought you wouldn't want me to before, and that's why I didn't help."  
  
"Like I said before Fiona, you couldn't be further from the truth there."  
  
Fiona quietly helped Mark with his zoid with things such as repairing circuitry, fixing the wings, and realigning the guns. After a couple minutes, he took a break and chatted with Van about zoids. Fiona was currently having a hard time tightening a bolt.  
  
"C'mon turn, dammit!" Fiona shouted mentally. She tried to turn it in, and this time, it tightened easily. "Now that's more like it! But how did it go in some easily?" pondered Fiona. She looked down at the wrench as saw Van's two big hands on top of hers.  
  
"Fiona, all you need to do is use willpower and more of your upper-body strength than that of your arms. You don't got to be all big and strong to tighten a bolt."  
  
"Oh really? You mean like just like you?" Fiona asked as she playfully squeezed Van's hard bicep. Van blushed, and tried to think up a response, but couldn't. Mark approached, and broke the silence.  
  
"I think I've figured it out: you two are an item. You've left all these hints throughout the course of the day, what I just saw confirms it. I'm not going to bother you or anything." Mark stated as moved a bang of his long, spiky, purplish-black hair out of his eyes. Meanwhile, he thought of all the ways he could annoy the hell out of Van.  
  
"Yes, Mark, we are. I thank you for not wanting to annoy us like Zeke does." Fiona politely answered.  
  
"Yeah, what she said." Van also replied.  
  
At the area where the Pteris was being resurrected, the pink and white whirlwind dissipated, and Zeke defused with the zoid.  
  
"GGGGGGAAARRROOOAAR!" Zeke shouted to get attention. The three ran to the whirlwind to see the revived Pteris. It looked a lot different. It had arms coming from where on its chest the machine guns were with the same missile launchers that were on the legs. Each arm ended with hands with fingers that were widely spread apart. The tail had spikes on it and appeared to be balanced and maneuverable enough to run very quickly on land. It also appeared to be able to fight as well on land as it could in the air.  
  
"Whoa! That's one cool-looking zoid you got there, Fiona!" Mark exclaimed.  
  
"Hey Fiona, you want to test it in a round against me? The only rule is that you stay on the ground"  
  
"You're on!"  
  
"Think this'll be a good match, Zeke?" Mark inquired. Zeke simply nodded his head and watched as Van and Fiona hopped into their respective zoids.  
  
Van immediately ran toward Fiona and took the Liger's paw in an attempt to smash her zoid. Fiona, however used her new zoid's spiked tail to block it. She fired a couple rounds at Van's Liger, which he had cast its shield up just in time.  
  
"You're getting better, Fiona."  
  
"Thanks Van, but watch out for this!"  
  
Fiona had previously launched a heat-seeking missile that was now right behind Van, and there wasn't enough time for him to turn around and cast his shield up.  
  
"What the hell just happened?" Van asked nobody in particular.  
  
Fiona didn't reply, and Van charged her again. The Liger had enough momentum to knock Fiona's zoid out for the count. Fiona didn't have any other ideas, so she wrapped her Pteris' new arms around Van's Liger in an attempt to stop him. She used all the strength she had in her body and all of her willpower to stop the charging Liger. Somehow, it worked. Fiona got curious, and used controls that looked similar to that of the Liger's blades. Three blades sprung out on each hand between the five fingers, which she held inches away from the Blade Liger's throat.  
  
"You lose, Van."  
  
"I didn't know you had blades! Oh well, you're getting really good Fiona."  
  
"Thanks again Van. What should we call my new zoid? It somewhat looks like a Pteris, but its different."  
  
"How about a Pterosaur? It looks like a cross between a Pteris and a dinosaur." Mark explained.  
  
"Sounds good to me." Fiona replied. "GGGGAAOORRR!"  
  
"Zeke's getting hungry, and so am I. I think it's time to make dinner." Van declared.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	7. Arrival at the Snow Colony

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Seven: Arrival at the Snow Colony  
  
"Are we almost there Van?" Mark whined as he pulled the hood of the baggy snow-white sweatshirt that Van had lent him over his head, and tightened it. Just looking at the color of the damned shirt reminded him of the freezing, snowy weather. He recalled that it started to get cold around three days ago, then it just kept getting worse the further they traveled.  
  
"We'll be at the Snow Colony in an hour." Van then admitted to himself that it was a bit chilly. He even wore his blue fleece shirt with the beige turtleneck under it.  
  
"Van can we pick up the pace? I'm hungry, and its too cold to have lunch outside, so can we please hurry?" Fiona inquired. She didn't mean to complain, but she handled the cold even worse than Mark, as she was wearing heavy snow pants and a ski jacket over her regular outfit. Unlike Van, Mark and Fiona weren't trained to be immune to the elements.  
  
"Make that thirty minutes." Van answered as he turned the Liger's boosters on. Van had been pretty hungry himself, being a big guy, but had been also trained to suppress hunger. Now since everyone else wanted to get moving more quickly, he was glad to speed up. Fiona then flew her Pterosaur off the ground where she could gain more speed, and Mark had been ahead the whole time. Zeke also made an attempt to run alongside the Liger more quickly.  
  
"Do you always listen to your girlfriend, Van?"  
  
"Shut up, Mark!" Van exclaimed as he trudged through the snow.  
  
Around half an hour later, the Snow Colony came into view. It was a lot bigger than van and Fiona had anticipated.  
  
"Whoa, Fiona and Zeke, look! It's almost as big as the Wind Colony!"  
  
"Gaaarrr!"  
  
"You're right, Van." Fiona replied. Mark said nothing, as he hadn't been to either of the colonies. However, he did notice a place to eat.  
  
"Yo, Van and Fiona, does that place look good to dine at?"  
  
"Alright."  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
The party arrived and parked their zoids right outside the restaurant. It was decided that they'd split a large pot of noodle soup amongst the four of them. Van and Fiona had ordered hot chocolate, while Zeke drank the water from his soup which he had eaten in ten seconds, and Mark later tried to convince the waitress that he was eighteen, and therefore old enough to purchase alcohol. He somehow had gotten away with it, and came she back with a Heineken. Mark started to drink it after he ate his portion. After having about ¼ of it, he put it down on the table and Zeke sniffed it, and fell in love with its scent.  
  
"What? You want some? You can have a little, Zeke." In a matter of five seconds, Zeke drank about ½ of what was left.  
  
"That's enough! Give it back, Zeke!" Mark shouted.  
  
"GGOOAARR!" This resulted in a hand-to-hand struggle, in which Zeke eventually won, but fell back when Mark let go, and the bottle broke on him. Zeke roared in victory, and licked the beer off himself.  
  
"Damn you, Zeke! I paid good money and it was hard coming up with a story about my age! Thanks a lot."  
  
"Gaaarrr?"  
  
Van, who had finished about five minutes watched the whole thing, and was wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "Are you ready to go, Fiona? I saw a zoids parts shop around here somewhere. I need more ammo and some replacement parts for the ones I couldn't fix 100% after our battle with Luke. Will you come"  
  
"In a minute, Van. Lemme just finish."  
  
"Okay, then how about you two, Mark and Zeke?"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I saw a zoids parts shop in town. I need more ammo, and replacement parts. Will you two come?"  
  
"Gooorree"  
  
"Okay. I need some things myself."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Van paid the bill, and they went to the shop. Van and Mark bought their parts, and Fiona didn't need any since her zoid was new. The guy in charge kindly let them use his own bay to install the parts. However, it took awhile to install the parts, as it was 5:30 at the time that they were done. Upon stepping outside, there was a surprise waiting for them: it was pitch-black outside.  
  
"Damn it gets dark early here! Fiona, Van, should we spend the night at a hotel? I mean, it's too dark to travel, and it's pretty cold for camping." Mark suggested.  
  
"That'd be a great idea. What do you think, Van?" Fiona replied.  
  
"Okay, one night at a hotel won't kill us."  
  
The party rented a hotel suite for the night. It was agreed that Fiona and Van would share the bedroom, while Mark and Zeke shared the TV room. Mark won the couch by promising to give Zeke more Heineken later. The guys occupied themselves by lifting weights for awhile, and Fiona took a hot shower and then chatted with Zeke.  
  
"So Zeke, do you think I'll remember my past if Zoid Eve is at these ruins?"  
  
"Gooarr."  
  
"I hope you're right." Fiona guessed the guys would be pretty hungry, since it was around 7:30, and lunch was at about 12:30. So, she made them, Zeke, and herself steak. The meal went by quickly, and after it, Fiona lied down in the room she and Van were sharing. Van was taking a shower, and when he was done, he lied down next to Fiona.  
  
"Hey Fiona." Van greeted.  
  
"Hi Van" Fiona replied in a worried tone.  
  
"What's wrong Fiona?"  
  
"I was just wondering about my past. Have I forgotten it because I did something horrible, and do you think it'll be for the best I find out when we get to the ruins?"  
  
"Don't be worried about it, it'll be fine. Fiona, in all of the four and a half years I've known you, you haven't done anything horrible, so I seriously doubt you've done wrong in your past."  
  
Seeing as she was still worried, Van picked Fiona up, placed her on top of him and ran his hand through her long hair. He then wrapped his other arm around her, and kissed her on the lips, which she fully returned. The two lovers fell asleep with the comfort of each other, prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	8. Zoid's Eve

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter Eight: Zoid's Eve  
  
"Are we almost there?" Mark inquired.  
  
"Shut up, Mark! All day, ever since we left the hotel, you've been asking that same damned question."  
  
"Van, there's no need to get angry." Fiona responded.  
  
"Yeah, you should listen to your girlfriend. She's right you know."  
  
Van or Fiona didn't respond to that. "Whoa! What's that?"  
  
"What now Mark?" Van, obviously annoyed, asked.  
  
"Look over there, is that the temple?"  
  
"Yes, it is Mark." Fiona answered.  
  
"Fiona, how'd you know what it looks like?"  
  
"Van, I had a vision at Rudolf's in the courtyard. Where we are looks exactly the same, the aurora, the landscape, and all else. Except. well. never mind." Fiona half-honestly explained. She didn't want to worry Van about Ryss and Raven. With Luke and all else, Van would get concerned even more for their safety, and as a result, he would get even snappier than he was now.  
  
"Oh okay. In that case, let's get there as quick as possible!"  
  
The party arrived in a matter of minutes, and parked their zoids in a matter of one. The temple itself appeared to be pure ice so clear that at whatever angle they looked at it, they could see their reflections.  
  
"It's beautiful Van, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, it's pretty nice-looking, Fiona. Here, both of you take one." Van replied as he handed them each a pistol.  
  
"Whoa, cool!"  
  
"But Van,"  
  
"Just take it Fiona in case something goes wrong. As for you Mark, don't screw around with that, it's loaded."  
  
It was then Fiona noticed a tablet fragment written in ancient zoidian on the ground. She translated it aloud: "Only those pure of heart will find zoid's eve."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean, Fiona?"  
  
"I don't know, Van."  
  
"That's weird. Should we head in now?" Mark asked.  
  
Van, Zeke, and Fiona nodded, the group then headed inside the temple. They entered a large chamber with a tiled floor. Van quickly became aware of a bulky, hooded figure charging at them with a knife.  
  
"I'm going to take care of that. Mark, Zeke, and Fiona, you all stay here.  
  
"Alright."  
  
"Grrr."  
  
"But Van, are you sure you'll be okay?"  
  
Van didn't respond as he took out his own knife and knocked it into the figure's with enough force that he sent it flying. It was then he noticed the guy's knife was the exact same as his. Van gave the guy a hard right hook to the cheek, and pulled off the figure's hood to find.himself, only with white hair.  
  
"What kind of game are you playing?" Van demanded.  
  
"This is no game, Van. I'm part of you. You can never get rid of me. I'm your dark side." The figure replied as he spat out a tooth.  
  
Mark was about to go help Van, but then he noticed his own counterpart walking toward him. However, he didn't attack Mark.  
  
"Hello Mark. Why are you traveling with the enemy? You're going against everything our brother believes. Why don't you just shoot them with that gun Flyheight gave you, and join our brother when he arrives as the rulers of planet Zi? Can you imagine how happy he'd be to find the corpses of his two enemies, Van Flyheight and Alisi Lynette?"  
  
Mark looked at his white-haired counterpart and slowly raised his pistol.  
  
"That's it! You can do it!"  
  
"You're wrong. I have no interest in ruling Zi, and my brother is totally corrupt. I'll never fight with him again. Van and Fiona have treated me very kindly during our trip here- more so than Luke ever did. Sayonara." Mark declared as he shot his counterpart in the chest. He immediately died, and his body mysteriously disappeared. Mark looked to see how Van was doing. Apparently, fighting hand-to-hand against one's own self wasn't easy. Dark Van had kneed Van in the stomach, and yanked Van's knife out of his hands. Mark already decided not to join the fight, for he wasn't nearly as strong as Van or as Van's counterpart, and if he did, he would probably make Van more vulnerable. Mark wasn't too sure of his accuracy with a gun either. But if it got too out of hand, he decided that he'd jump into the fray. For now, he watched.  
  
Fiona couldn't have helped Van, because she had been having a mental battle the whole time. 'Just who are you anyway? Ryss?' 'No Fiona, I'm the smarter side of you. You've been a burden to Van and have wasted his time for this whole journey. He only came here just for the thrill, not for you.' 'That's not true! Even when we were first traveling four and a half years back, we were hunting for zoid eve. Even though we got sidetracked a lot, the whole purpose of the journey was to find zoid's eve.' 'You of course know that Van doesn't really love you.' 'That can't be farther from the truth! Even when I had my doubts, Van always crushed them and assured me that we belonged together. I don't care who you say you are, so get out of my head!' Fiona mentally screamed and was brought back to reality.  
  
Van appeared to be losing. Fiona knew that if she jumped in, the dark Van might use her as a shield. She also wasn't too confident with her aim with a gun. The two vans were also too close for Zeke to ram with his boosters, so Zeke also watched in fear with Fiona and Mark. Dark Van had slashed Van's face pretty badly and was about ready to finish the job. Van however, caught his arm mid-swing, twisted it, took the knife, and cut Dark Van's throat in one fluid motion. Van's counterpart's body disappeared right after this.  
  
"Van, your face is cut badly. Lemme get a look at it."  
  
"But Fiona, why? I'll be fine."  
  
"You're not getting out of this one, Van. You always look at all my minor cuts, and here you've got one big enough o leave a scar, and you just want to leave it alone. I don't think so!"  
  
"Hey Zeke, did he always get bossed around by her?" Mark whispered. Zeke shook his head no. "Oh so it happened after they got together?" Zeke shook his head yes.  
  
"This is odd," Fiona stated.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Van, your cut totally disappeared without a trace, see?" Fiona explained as she took her hand off Van's face where the cut was. There wasn't any blood.  
  
"Really? I thought it went numb or something. Anyway, I think we might be getting set up."  
  
"By who?"  
  
"I don't know Fiona, but let's hope we find out." Van concluded as they started to walk into the next room. Stealthily, two other figures silently treaded behind them.  
  
The next chamber was pretty dark, and an altar with unlit torches could barely be made out. Van heard a very small sound, as if someone was shifting his weight or something.  
  
"Who's there?" Van inquired. No one responded. Van quickly turned around, grabbed the intruder by his neck, and lifted him a few inches above the ground with one arm. Van moved at an angle in which his face could be seen. Needless to say, Van was in for quite a surprise.  
  
"Raven? What the hell are you doing here? Give me one good reason why I should let you live." Van harshly interrogated.  
  
"I came here with Ryss to find zoid's eve to resurrect Shadow. As for killing me, you have every right to. I've got the blood of hundreds on my hands. I doubt you could do it anyway, seeing as that you've only accidentally killed pilots in their zoids with yours. You've never done it with your bare hands except for that clone of you that you just fought."  
  
"Don't push him Raven, he just might do it!" Ryss screamed, stepping out of the shadows.  
  
"You're here as well? Say goodbye to Raven."  
  
"No, don't! You haven't heard from us for the past six months. All we've been doing is searching for zoid's eve. We haven't hurt anyone. Please forgive us. Remember when I let you go that time we fought?" Ryss begged of Van, who showed no sign of backing down. "Please don't do it. I love him, so please don't!" Ryss begged again as she started to cry. Raven barely muttered a "Me too." before closing his eyes, and preparing for death.  
  
All the while, Zeke and Specula were looking ready to lunge at each other while Mark and Fiona said nothing. Fiona teleported from several yards away right next to Van, and wrapped herself around Van's other arm.  
  
"No, Van. Put him down. They showed you mercy, so return it. If they wanted us dead, they would've already have killed us, and we wouldn't have known what happened. They're telling the truth; I can sense no evil ambitions inside of them," instructed Fiona. Van reluctantly lowered Raven down to the ground and let him go. However, he kept a close eye on him. When he saw Ryss dry her eyes, run up to Raven and hug him, he thought to himself, "Maybe they've turned good after all." Mark didn't make a smart- assed comment for once, seeing the solemnity of the situation.  
  
Fiona walked up to the altar, and mumbled something in ancient zoidian that only Ryss understood. The torches lit up in a bright flash of light, giving the room a magenta glow, and a young woman about Mark's height and build with white hair appeared.  
  
"Hello, I'm zoid's eve, as in the guardian of Zi and the creator of all zoids. Despite my young appearance, my spirit is millennia old. You may call me Eve. You two ancient zoidians, have come seeking knowledge of your past and your memories, correct?"  
  
Ryss and Fiona bowed, and nodded. "2000 years ago, the Death Soarer wiped out the ancient zoidians of Zi. However, its creation was a controversial issue, and your sets of parents feared for your safety. So, they placed you in pods with your respective organoids (which, by the way, all families had one as a bodyguard) alongside you for safety precautions. These pods prevented you from aging, and put you in a suspended state. The only downside was that they had amnesiac properties, and that's why you lost your memories. You would've eventually got them back, but that could've taken years. Shortly after that, the Death Soarer, as you know, wiped out the rest of the ancient zoidians. 1000 years later, planet Earth faced overpopulation, and many traveled to here, on Zi. Also, you probably both are wondering your physical age, am I right?"  
  
Ryss and Fiona nodded. "Alisi, you're almost nineteen and Ryss, you're twenty-one. Flyheight, those counterparts you fought were representing your doubts, worries of failure, and traces of evil, and yes I can read your mind. Raven and Ryss didn't have to fight them because they crushed those doubts, worries, and evils six months ago. For you, Raven, I will resurrect Shadow. However, if you return to your murderous ways, Shadow will die again- permanently." There was a bright flash of light, and Shadow appeared along with a purple organoid with white eyes. The organoid had arms almost as big as Van's, with a thinner tail. It looked to be more feminine than the other organoids, somehow.  
  
"Mark the other organoid is for you. Her name's Violet and she is my personal servant. She also is the last undiscovered living organoid left with the potential to become the most powerful one ever. However, her potential increases as yours does, and this will lead to your zoid becoming stronger. You'll need her for your upcoming battle. Luke is waiting for you outside. I have confidence that if you all fight united, you'll be victorious. I've answered all of your questions that you were wondering about. Now go!" Eve instructed as she disappeared and the room went dark again.  
  
-blkstrmswrdr17 


	9. The Final Battle

The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter Nine: The Final Battle  
  
Author's Note: I'm back with chapter nine! Sorry for the long wait. There may be an epilogue after this. If so, expect it a week or two from now. Also, I've decided to name Mark's organoid Violet. I've edited the last chapter so that's said. Please read/review with your opinions. Any ideas/suggestions for an epilogue and a sequel are welcomed.  
  
"So Raven, will you help us out?"  
  
"That depends Van. If you never bother me again, then I will. You can trust me because I'm in no condition to fight you even if I wanted to, since the Geno Breaker was previously beyond repair without Shadow, and if I turn evil again, Shadow will die. Do you agree to my terms?"  
  
"Yes, but let's go now!" Van answered as he shook Raven's hand and started running out of the temple. Everybody followed suit. Less than five minutes later, everybody was outside and in their zoids with their respective organoid. Van let Fiona use Zeke since he was on the ground with Ryss and her Double Sworder.  
  
"I've been waiting for you all. I'll give my brother one last chance to join me and you zoidians one chance to bring me to zoid eve." Luke declared as his Storm Sworder came into view. except it was fully repaired and now a shade of blood red, unlike Fiona's Pterosaur which was a blackish-red.  
  
"Zoid's Eve is the guardian of Zi. There's no way she'd help you or I'd even dishonor her by bringing you to her presence!" Fiona harshly responded.  
  
"Hell no! There's no way I'm helping you out again. You ditched me during the battle. Fiona, Van, and Zeke were kind enough to help me. I wouldn't leave them for you, a corrupt person. Why is your zoid red?"  
  
"If you want to know that before you all die, I will tell you. Brother, the Dark Kaiser has given me Ambient to aid me where Hiltz failed. Now let me ask you, why has your zoid taken on a purplish-black tint? Do you have an organoid as well?"  
  
"Eve gave me her organoid, Violet to help me beat you."  
  
  
  
"You're going to beat me? You lost to Flyheight! I'd love to see you try!" Luke remarked, laughing as he fired a few shots at his brother, who had already started to mobilize.  
  
"Hey Ryss, this guy's even crazier than Hiltz!"  
  
"You got that right, Raven."  
  
Ryss was just shooting at Luke until an idea hit her. She used her zoid to summon the mini- Double Sworders in an attempt to freeze Luke's combat system.  
  
"What the hell's this?!" Luke screamed as the little bugs crawled onto his zoid and the monitors started going berserk. "Ah, good thinking Ambient." Luke replied as Ambient set up a shield, frying the little Double-Sworders.  
  
"Ah, I forgot that Ambient knew that," Ryss thought as she mentally slapped herself. She watched the brothers fight each other in awe. They both had their blades out applying pressure to each other's zoid in a midair clash. Neither set of blades snapped, fueled by the power of the pilots' rage and their organoids. Luke withdrew his blades and started to charge his particle cannon. Mark did as well, and they both fired at the same time, canceling both attacks out. This probably would've went on forever, but Fiona flew in from behind with her Pterosaur's blades drawn from its knuckles, and punched right through Luke's Storm Sworder's particle filter.  
  
"Damn you zoidian! Ambient can you repair that?"  
  
"Gaarr." Unlike Zeke, Ambient didn't have the power to make zoids repair themselves.  
  
"I don't the charged particle cannon to beat them anyway!" Luke screamed as he took out his blades again and tried to cut through the Pterosaur. Fiona parried with her own sets, tail whipped Luke's zoid, and moved to a safer distance.  
  
"Shadow, have you gotten the boosters fixed yet? All I've been doing is sitting here, waiting!" Raven screamed to Shadow in the core. Without Shadow, Raven hadn't been able to fix the Geno Breaker after his last bout with Hiltz, since most parts for his unique zoid were non-existent.  
  
"Ggrrr."  
  
"Oh, you're fixing the particle cannon? Even better! Now hurry up!"  
  
"What's this, am I out of ammo? Damn, that's not good! Ryss, how are you doing?" Van asked. All he and Ryss had done the entire battle was unsuccessfully shoot at Luke.  
  
"We ran out of ammo a couple minutes ago. All we can do on the ground is watch."  
  
"Yeah, you're right there."  
  
"Mark, I got a plan, but I need a distraction. Can you make it?"  
  
"Okay, but what is it, Fiona?"  
  
"Never mind that! Will you do it?"  
  
"Okay, here I go!" Mark exclaimed as he fired a missile right at Luke to get attention.  
  
"What's this, you want to be the first to die?" Luke asked as he charged at Mark, blades drawn. Mark simply flew a little lower, and Luke missed. Fiona came from behind and grabbed Luke's Storm Sworder in a bear hug. She used her boosters in a way that she could hover way above the ground without flying.  
  
"Mark, Raven now attack him with your charged particle beams. Aim for the zoid core! Zeke, even if I lose consciousness, hold the grip."  
  
"Fiona, are you sure? You might get hurt?"  
  
"Oh well, she's asking for it. Flyheight better not blame me if she dies," thought Raven, who apparently could care less what happened. Sure, he didn't hate Fiona, but she asked for this right? Raven looked at the monitors just to be sure, and yes he was now able to fire the particle cannon  
  
"Fiona what're you doing? Do you want to get yourself killed?!" Van screamed. "How can she be so in-selfish? Does she even care about what I think in this? Obviously not!" Van thought as he punched the Liger's cockpit so hard it cracked.  
  
"I have to do this Van for the good of all Zi!"  
  
"You're crazy, you'll kill us both!" Luke panicked as he desperately tried to escape from the Pterosaur's grip. Eventually finding this pointless, he cast his shield and prepared for impact. Raven and Mark then fire their particle cannons. The beams slowly broke their way through Luke's shield and right into his zoid's core. Both Luke and Ambient, who were still inside, were both completely obliterated. The beam forced Luke's Storm Sworder right into Fiona's zoid. She set up a shield, but the impact had caused her to slam into the side of the cockpit really hard.  
  
Zeke desperately tried to land the Pterosaur. Fiona had lost consciousness, and it was all up to him. He barely had landed in time. Van immediately hopped out of the Liger to see if Fiona was okay. He took her out of her zoid's cockpit, and transferred her to his own and went in as well. For some unknown reason, he just wanted to be close to Fiona. Zeke stayed to pilot the Pterosaur. Van had also just noticed that Ryss and Raven were gone. They left just as stealthily as they'd appeared. Mark and Violet were surveying the wreckage and Fiona was just starting to come around.  
  
"Hey Van," Fiona greeted, exhausted.  
  
"Fiona! You really had me worried there." Van said as he turned around and looked into Fiona's eyes.  
  
"I had to do that Van to keep everyone on Zi safe. I'm sorry if."  
  
"It's alright, I understand." Van interrupted as he put his finger over her lips.  
  
Mark sighed as he kicked over another piece of metal. His brother's Storm Sworder was in that same shape all zoids with a shattered core were in. There was a red pile of distorted metal, which was probably Ambient. Mark saw his brother's burned corpse. He resisted the urge to spit on it, and instead kicked some snow on top of him. Even his bad brother deserved *some* kind of burial.  
  
"C'mon Violet, let's go get back to Van, Fiona, Zeke, and the zoids." Mark instructed as he started to walk back. His purple organoid followed suit. 


End file.
